The Antichrist loses a battle against a much smaller fleet. In full view of the whole world, he turns and flees in fear. This undermines his claim, you know, to be God. How can a god lose a battle against a smaller fleet? If he had charged the fleet without fear, they would have been defeated. But he was afraid of dying. How can a god be afraid of dying? The whole world now doubts his claim to be divine. Worse still, there is a new weapon in the hands of his adversaries, which can penetrate the defenses of his fleet. So he cannot simply rule by sheer power. He cannot threaten those who refuse to worship him with military might.

What to do, what to do.

[Daniel]
{11:30} And the Greek warships and the Romans will come upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat, and will have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will act. And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
{11:31} And arms will take his side, and they will pollute the sanctuary of the strength, and they will take away the continual sacrifice and will replace it with the abomination of desolation.
{11:32} And the impious within the testament will imitate deceitfully, but the people, knowing their God, will persevere and will act.

The Antichrist learns that the ships which defeated him were manned by Roman Catholics. They borrowed the ships from one of the smaller kingdoms of the world. And so he in particular wishes to destroy the Catholic faith.

The Antichrist is approached by the false prophetess, an apostate Catholic woman, called “Jezebel” and “the harlot” by the Book of Revelation. She suggests that the Antichrist give his religion a formal structure, modeled after Catholicism, with false sacraments, ceremonies of worship, rewards for those who participate, punishments for those who refuse. She suggests that the Antichrist obtain the worship of the world by means of this false Church and its false doctrines and disciplines.

He accepts the plan, and he appoints her as the leader of this false Church. But this false Church of the Antichrist is entirely separate from the true Catholic Christian Church, which the Antichrist wishes to destroy. The houses of worship in the world are reopened, but only for use by the Antichrist’s followers. Then each kingdom of the world is given a religious leader (which explains why there are now ten diadems on the seven heads of the beast which is the Antichrist’s kingdom).

The abomination of desolation is a false Eucharist. Those who willingly receive it are turning over their souls to devils. The worship of the Antichrist is implicitly a worship of Satan and other devils.

The religion of the Antichrist approves of grave sexual sins. His religion incorporates grave sexual sins into the worship, and rewards those who advance in his religion with sex slaves and other such wicked benefits. In addition, his religion approves of assaults and murders against one’s enemies. Those who advance in his religion can obtain authority to harm or to kill their enemies, legally. And no one can have any positions of leadership or authority in the world, unless they are leaders within his false religion. In this way, he gains many worshippers. (But many of them realize he is not a god; they just play along to obtain the wicked benefits of his religion.)

Yes, the false prophet of the Antichrist is a woman. Her position in his false Church is analogous to that of the Pope, except she claims to be in some way divine also. She is the anti-virgin-mary of the Antichrist. She is exceedingly unchaste, having committed innumerable severe sexual sins. She teaches approval for all manner of grave sexual sins. She encourages sexual sins at a young age. The false doctrines of the Antichrist encourage and even demand the commission of sexual sins. The false religion of the Antichrist idolizes sex, money, violence, and power. Thus, it is readily accepted by the wicked society of that time.

However, during this second part of the Antichrist’s reign, which lasts 1260 days, the two prophets from the book of Revelation — literally Enoch and Elijah — are preaching against the Antichrist and the false prophetess. The prophets are able to strike the world with all manner of afflictions, in order to prove that the Antichrist is not a god, and he is unable to stop them. They strike the whole world with a severe drought, and the Antichrist is not able to reverse the drought. This undermines his claim to be a god, as he cannot even make it rain.

Also during the time of the Antichrist’s reign, there will be certain holy persons in the world, who were given the state of grace in the womb. They are each like John the Baptist, in that they are conceived with original sin, but they never commit any personal sins their entire lives. They assist the two prophets in preaching the true Gospel, though secretly.

At the end of the 1260 days, God permits the two prophets to be killed, and the world rejoices. The people of the world declare a spontaneous holiday, and the Antichrist and false prophetess are unable to stop them. The people refuse to allow the bodies of the two prophets to be buried, and so they lie in the streets of Jerusalem, being watched by the whole world. People will exchange gifts, as if it were a religious holiday. They will also talk about all that the two prophets had said. In doing so, they will unwittingly spread the prophesies of the prophets throughout the world even more thoroughly. This angers the Antichrist, but he is unable to change the course of events.

Then, after three and one half days, the two prophets come to life in full view of the whole world. And the world hears Jesus call to them, and they are assumed into Heaven.

[Revelation]
{11:7} And when they will have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended from the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them.
{11:8} And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the Great City, which is figuratively called ‘Sodom’ and ‘Egypt,’ the place where their Lord also was crucified.
{11:9} And those from the tribes and peoples and languages and nations shall be watching their bodies for three and one half days. And they shall not permit their bodies to be placed in tombs.
{11:10} And the inhabitants of the earth will rejoice over them, and they will celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tortured those who were living upon the earth.
{11:11} And after three and one half days, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upright on their feet. And a great fear fell over those who saw them.
{11:12} And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, “Ascend to here!” And they ascended into heaven on a cloud. And their enemies saw them.
{11:13} And at that hour, a great earthquake occurred. And one tenth part of the City fell. And the names of the men slain in the earthquake were seven thousand. And the remainder were thrown into fear, and they gave glory to the God of heaven.

Now the Antichrist and the false prophetess have a serious problem. Everyone in the world was talking about the claims of the two prophets, saying how those claims must be false, since they were killed. But when they come to life, this implies that their preaching must have been true. So the whole world realizes that the Antichrist is not divine. And those in the world who were just pretending to believe he is a god cannot even pretend. But since the entire kingdom of the Antichrist is built upon the worship of him in particular, the entire kingdom is about to fall apart.

Not to worry. The false prophetess has a solution. The Antichrist will pretend to rise up to Heaven, to chase after the two prophets, and will supposedly fight and defeat them. So they prepare the event, and the whole world is watching. With the help of technology and devils, the Antichrist seems to rise up into the air, from Jerusalem. And then the Archangel Michael deprives him of the means he was using to breathe at that high altitude, and he is gasping for breath. And Michael also deprives him of the means he was using to rise up into the air. Gravity brings the Antichrist crashing to the ground, in the view of the whole world. Thus, it becomes absolutely clear that the Antichrist is not divine. He is lying on the ground, with the whole world watching, with broken bones and gasping for air.

The faithful of the world rejoice, and they go out and begin to preach the Gospel openly. No one in the kingdom dares to oppose the faithful. The entire kingdom of the Antichrist has collapsed.